Tuesday, January 29, 2008

A San Francisco teen was arrested Monday night on suspicion of attempted murder for a shooting near United Nations Plaza that left one man hospitalized, San Francisco police reported today.

The shooting took place at about 9:15 p.m. in the 100 block of McAllister St., according to police.

Officers from the San Francisco Police Department's Gang Task Force were conducting an enforcement operation in the area, when they heard gunshots and saw a man limping across McAllister Street, and another running down the street with a handgun, police reported.

Several officers were able to track the suspect down after a foot chase.

The suspect ignored orders to drop the gun, but eventually stopped running and dropped the weapon into a trashcan, police reported.

Pierre Ragland, 18, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, assault, carrying a loaded firearm and carrying a concealed weapon, according to police.

The victim, a 40-year-old San Francisco man, suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg and was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, police reported.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

(01-26) 12:21 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- An Oakland man was shot and killed and his companion seriously wounded at a Chevron station South of Market in San Francisco Friday night.The victim, identified by the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office as 24-year-old Ernesto Williams, and an unidentified 26-year-old woman were standing outside their vehicle at the gas station at Sixth and Harrison streets at 10:40 p.m., when a gunman drove up and opened fire.Both victims were transported to San Francisco General Hospital, where Williams was pronounced dead, and the young woman is listed in stable condition. The gunman drove off in a gold-colored car. Police have no suspects or description of the assailant.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

(01-14) 04:00 PST San Francisco - -- Police are searching for two gunmen who shot and killed an anti-violence activist Saturday night outside the packed San Francisco gymnasium where he had been watching and rooting for his daughter, a star player on the nation's top-ranked high school basketball team.

Terrell "Terray" Rogers, whose daughter is a top-rated junior guard for Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, had walked across the street from the school during halftime when he was attacked in a parking lot in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood, police said.

Investigators have made no arrests in the slaying of the 39-year-old father of two from Pacifica, while those who knew Rogers are struggling to understand why he was apparently targeted. Rogers, they said, grew up in a tough part of San Francisco and got into some trouble, but later dedicated himself to helping young people.

Rogers had been watching his daughter, Tierra, a highly recruited guard for a two-time defending state champion team. The gymnasium on Ellis Street was packed for a game against Archbishop Mitty High School of San Jose. As usual, the gregarious Rogers had been cheering loudly.

"You can't fathom the viciousness and senselessness of this entire situation," said Sue Phillips, Mitty's head coach, who also coached Tierra Rogers on a San Jose club basketball team. "Terray was a good soul, and this planet was much better with him on it. It's just sickening."

At 8:20 p.m., during halftime of the game, Terrell Rogers and another man left the gymnasium and walked across Ellis Street, between Gough and Franklin streets, police said. Two men approached Rogers near a small church parking lot. Both opened fire, striking him multiple times before they fled on foot, said Sgt. Steve Mannina, a department spokesman.

Rogers was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The unidentified man with Rogers was not hurt, and no arrests have been made, Mannina said.

At least five gunshots were heard on the street, but the sound didn't penetrate the gymnasium, according to witnesses. The contest resumed, but Rogers' daughter was quietly pulled out of the game during the third quarter. Phillips said the teenager was taken to an office near the gymnasium and told that her father had been shot.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

(01-10) 13:10 PST SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco man was charged with attempted murder today in connection with the Western Addition shooting of a teenager Saturday evening, police said.

Justin Howard, 19, was arrested at his Turk Street residence around 7 a.m. today, police said. He is accused of shooting an unidentified 19-year-old man around 9 p.m. Saturday in the area of Webster and Fulton streets, near Alamo Square, police said.

Prosecutors issued a $500,000 warrant for Howard and have charged him with attempted murder, assault with a firearm and a gang enhancement, police said.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Justin Lee, the man gunned down in the mission on Monday, was a key witness in a 2005 shooting in which he was wounded. He had just left the witness protection program, and just returned to San Francisco, only to be shot dead the same day.

(01-09) 12:31 PST SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco police arrested two people in connection with the shooting deaths of two men in the city over the past month, authorities said today.

Mario Hollister, 23, of Richmond was arrested Tuesday in Hercules in connection with the shooting death early Sunday of Clarence Corbin, police said. Corbin, 34, of Antioch was shot while trying to break up a fight outside the Jelly's Dance Cafe nightclub on Terry Francois Boulevard in Mission Bay, police said.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested Saturday in connection with the shooting death of 24-year-old Dewayne Larry, who was killed Dec. 17 on the 100 block of Kiska Road in the Bayview district. Police said the suspect, whose name was not released because of his age, shot Larry after the two got into a fight.

(01-08) 08:18 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- (01-08) 09:34 PST SAN FRANCISCO - A man was shot to death in the Mission District late Monday after he was chased down by his assailant, police said today.

A witness told police that the man was being chased down 26th Street near Mission Street around 11:35 p.m. when he tripped and fell. The killer caught up to the victim and shot him several times, then fled on foot, police said.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was not immediately released.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

(01-06) 22:25 PST San Francisco -- Two people died and three others were injured in five separate shootings in San Francisco in less than 24 hours Saturday and today, according to police.

No suspects are in custody, and the shootings do not appear to be related, police said.

The latest shooting was at 2:30 p.m. today on Rosie Lee Lane in the Bayview neighborhood, where police responding to calls of shots fired found a male victim on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds, according to a spokesman from the San Francisco Police Department.

The victim was identified by the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office as Torrance Gray, 16, of San Francisco. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital and declared dead around 3 p.m., according to police.

The victim was identified by the medical examiner as Clarence Corbin, 34, of Antioch. He was standing in a crowd outside the club when shots rang out, according to San Francisco police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens. The victim, who was struck by multiple bullets, was transported to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 5 a.m., Gittens said.

Police are unsure whether Corbin was a target or shot at random, Gittens said.

Another shooting was reported around 2 a.m. today in the 3300 block of Mission Street near 29th Street, according to police.

At 1:10 a.m. today, a shooting was reported on Campton Place, about a block away from Union Square, police said.

And around 9 p.m. Saturday, a shooting was reported in the area of Webster and Fulton streets, near Alamo Square, police said.

In addition to the two fatalities, at least three other victims were injured in the shootings, but authorities would not describe the extent of their injuries.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - San Francisco police are investigating the first killing of 2008, an early morning shooting Tuesday in the South of Market neighborhood.

Police said the unidentified victim, a man in his late 20s, was walking on Ninth Street near the intersection of Folsom Street just before 5 a.m. when he was shot in the face. Medical personnel pronounced the man dead when they arrived.

Police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens said there was little information available regarding the homicide.

“Unfortunately, investigators now have to look into the first homicide of the year,” he said.Examiner.com Related Articles:

According to police operations, there were no witnesses in the area and police have no vehicle or suspect information. The homicide occurred about a block away from a popular cluster of nightclubs with early-morning hours.

The homicide tally for 2007 also began with a New Year’s Day killing and ended in December with 98 homicides — the highest number since 1995, when The City recorded 104 slayings.

For SoMa residents, a slaying in the middle of the neighborhood could mean a growing trend of deadly violence will only continue into the new year. The Southern police station, which covers SoMa, recorded nine homicides in 2007 — triple the number of killings in that district in 2006.

On Tuesday, police were also investigating two New Year’s stabbings that occurred at about 2 a.m. near Washington Square in North Beach.

Police also responded to a daylight shooting in the area of McAllister and Fillmore streets. Witnesses called police about 10 a.m. and said the occupants of two white cars were driving around and shooting at each other. Police were unable to locate any suspects or vehicles, and police said they believe nobody was hurt in the shooting.

A 30-year-old San Francisco man was shot and killed in broad daylight Monday at the Sunnydale public housing project while shielding his daughter from gunfire in what police say was a gang-related shooting.

The 11:40 a.m. shooting left blood on the street outside the Visitacion Valley housing complex at Brookdale and Santos avenues and Albert Collins dead at San Francisco General Hospital.

Collins was hit in the chest and leg but appears not to have been the intended target, police investigators said.

"If he hadn't have shielded (his daughter), she would have been shot (and more seriously wounded)," said Lt. John Murphy of the homicide division.

Police say several rounds were fired.

Murphy said that the shooting may have been gang related but all victims appeared to have been bystanders.

The 9-year-old girl was grazed in the thigh as her father grabbed her and pulled her out of harm's way, Murphy said.

The only description was a suspect who opened fire out of a maroon four-door car, with three other men inside, which then sped off.

The shooting marked the 98th homicide in San Francisco in 2007, two more than the previous decade high of 96 in 2005 and the highest since the 104 death toll reached in 1995.

98. Cythia Sareen Weaver, 46, killed after falling from her bathroom window while trying to escape her abusive boyfriend, 24th and Folsom Streets, 11:00 p.m., the Mission. She fell on 10/03. (died on 10/20)

97. Jonisha Tucker, 16, hit in the head with a stray bullet, Hollister Avenue and Third Street, 7:37 p.m., Hunters Point., 10/14. (died on 10/16)

79. Giovanni Lechado, 28, shot along with his wife, inside a car at 18th and Bryant Streets, 6:30 p.m., the Mission, 09/04. Their 4 month-old child was in the car when they were shot. Died at SFGH, 11:40 a.m. (09/05)

*54. Paul Lenz, 41, beaten and strangled, body found at Ocean Beach, 4:00 a.m., 01/15. (Declared a homicide 06/13) *Ocean Beach is under jurisdiction of the US Park Police, so Lenz's murder is not being counted by the SFPD in their total, even though he was killed in San Francisco.

18. Liri Lesku, 34, shot while sleeping in house at 407 Kansas Street, on 02/13, at 2:30 p.m. in potrero Hill. Another woman was critically injured, and a man paralyzed in the shooting. (died at SFGH on 02/26)

11. James Gibson, 29, shot to death on the 100 block of Loehr Street, 1:30 a.m., Visitacion Valley. (02/03)

* 10. Leonard Milo Hoskins, 49, bludgeoned in his home with a peice of lumber, 60 Lamartine Street, Mission Terrace, on December 22nd. His body was not found until February 1st. * The SFPD is counting this towards 2008's total, even though the man was killed in 2007. (02/01)

2008 Justifiable Homicides

1. Leonard Michael Cole, a 55-year old homeless man, shot and killed after lunging at police officers with a knife, Greenwich and Polk Streets. (01/27)

2008 Suspicious Deaths

1. Marcos Baas-Chi, 26, killed after falling from an apartment window on the 300 block of Eddy Street, 10 p.m., the Tenderloin. (03/18)

2007 Homicide Victims (Final SFPD count: 99 Final FBI count: 100)

104. Albert Collins, 30, shot to death while sheilding his 9 year-old daughter from bullets in drive-by at Brookdale and Santos Avenues in Visitacion Valley. 3 others including his daughter were injured. (12/31)

103. Leonard Milo Hoskins, 49, bludgeoned in his home with a peice of lumber, 60 Lamartine Street, Mission Terrace. His body was not found until February. (12/23)

102. Dewayne Larry, 24, shot to death on the 100 block of Kiska Road, Hunters Point (12/17)

* 82. John Daniel Schirra, 22, found dead 2600 block of San Jose Avenue, Lakeview (09/03) *Not counted by the SFPD, who regard his death as "accidental." The Medical Examiner found trace amounts of LSD in his system, and the police believe that he was high and then stripped down, neatly folded his clothes, went outside, stabbed himself multiple times, fell and hit his head, and then knocked on doors looking for help before he died.

* 58. Hugues De La Plaza, 36, found stabbed to death in his apartment, Linden Street, Hayes Valley. (07/02) *Not included in the SFPD's count because the Medical Examiner has not yet released an official ruling on the cause of death

18. John Donaldson, 44, shot to death in car, another man critically injured, in double shooting at Third and Gilman Streets, Hunters Point (02/19)

17. Cadelia Howard, 54, found shot to death in housing complex, 1200 block of Ingalls Street, Hunters Point (02/17)

16. Tony McDougal, 33, shot at Hayes and Baker in the Western addition. He drove to Haight and Fillmore Streets in the Lower Haight, and crashed into a bus shelter at the scene of another shooting, that had occured an hour earlier, and was being investigated by police. He died at SFGH. (02/12)

2007 Justifiable Homicides

4. Marcus Harris, 37, stabbed to death by his girlfriend after he attacked her, 1500 block of La Salle Avenue, Hunters Point (09/15)

3. Rene Alexander Robinson, 45, shot to death by police when he charges them with two large knives, after he stabbed a man to death (Homicide victim #22) and attempted to hijack a car and stab the inhabitants, 7th and Townsend Streets, SoMa (03/07)

1. Mario Vargas, 36, of Daly City, shot to death by police outside pizzeria, 5145 Mission Street, after pointing a gun at officers, the Mission (01/28)

2007 Suspicious Deaths and Unverified Murders

4. A man was reportedly shot in the face at 24th and York Streets, in the Mission, after which he got in his car, drove a block, crashed, and according to witnesses, died. There was no news, and his death is not recorded on the SFPD's crime maps. Did he not actually die? Did he die from the accident, and not the bullet? (mid-July)

3. Edgar Garcia Torres, 22, killed when a gang member and convicted felon running from police slammed into his car, Third and Quesada Streets, Hunters Point. This was ruled vehicular manslaughter, but another death under almost identical circumstances (homicide #32), was considered a murder. Not sure what the reasoning is. (04/18)

2. Joshua Glasser, 26, found naked, handcuffed, and suffocated, with a plastic bag around his head, in a ransacked apartment, 1900 page street, the Haight. Heard that this was considered a homicide, but later heard it was considered as "suspicious." (02/19)

1. Homeless woman reportedly shot to death, 401 Haight Street, Lower Haight. There was no news story, so it is unsure if the victim died (mid-January)